Saturday, Jan 30, 2016
Looks like today is turning into a ‘hang out with the expats day’ for me. I started this morning by going to an arts/craft/food fair held in the park on the 30th of every month. There were expats selling their pottery, paintings, jewelry, specially made chocolate, coffee, and homemade breads and jams. I guess today did not have the normal turn out of vendors, being it was on the small side.
There were many other expats who showed up to look at the wares, shop, and visit. As I looked around the gazebo in the park, it almost could have been small town USA or Canada. I met some new expats today, and saw several I already knew. It’s fun getting to know the expat community here in Bahia and listening to each others stories of what brought us to Ecuador… and I think it’s a two-edged sword.
Still not having anything close to a command of Spanish, it is very difficult to communicate even the most basic things with the local Ecuadorians. To have an in-depth conversation is impossible right now. Being able to communicate with the expat community is easy. So that’s the edge…pushing myself to learn Spanish and immerse myself in local Ecuadorian life, and not taking the easy, breezy route of just hanging out with other expats.
While I was sitting in the park talking to an expat named Paul, he noticed a tick on his dog. He brushed it off and I got my first look at an Ecuadorian tick. I guess this place is filled with them but up until now I hadn’t seen one live and in its full Arthropodic glory. Damn I hope those don’t get on my dog.

Tick in the park
Tonight Heidi, Easton, and I are going to the H Bar for its official grand opening. I’ve heard that the owner, Henry, will have live music from the 80’s and 90’s. It seems that there will be a lot of expats going too, so I think Henry may have a full house tonight….and like I said, it’s ‘hang out with the expats day’ 😉

H Sports Cafe
Chao.
Great day for all of you except the tick. Oooo, I hope little Keeper does not get a tick either. Have you studied up on all the insects there. I would have to do that before I lived in any country. We have our share in Canada but the season of winter puts the clamp on tropical insects. We do have snow flees up here sometimes. They hang out around the lake and they fly in swarms.
I haven’t seen any flees yet…and I hope I don’t 🙂